Jackson mayor denies police chief was forced out

The city of Jackson announced the sudden retirement of Police Chief Lindsey Horton Monday morning, a change in leadership that took effect immediately. Mayor Tony Yarber denied Horton was forced to retire.

Yarber said the selection of a new chief is open to the public.

"There's no list. Our process will be that we will open it up for two weeks to take applicants. After that two week period is complete we will allow our normal employment process to follow. We will be very open and transparent about how we choose our next chief," Yarber said.

"Certainly I was surprised," Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett Simon said. "I don't think anybody in the city was not surprised about this announcement. I feel good that Lee Vance is the interim chief. I have full confidence in him."

Horton's announcement came on the heels of an apology he made to the public last week for what he described as the department's mishandling of a recent homicide response.

Horton told The Clarion-Ledger last week that two officers, whose names were not provided, failed to thoroughly check the property from which the call had originated. Had they done so, they would have found the body of 67-year-old Helen Ruth Harrion earlier on Tuesday.

Instead, one of Harrion's family members discovered her body behind her Kingsroad Avenue home about 11 hours later.

Harrion had been beaten, strangled and shot in the face, according to Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham Stewart. The victim's neck also had been broken, Grisham Stewart said, and it appears she might have been sexually assaulted.

When approached by The Clarion-Ledger Monday afternoon after a special city council meeting, Yarber refused to address questions about Horton's retirement.

Horton couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

Harrion had called Jackson dispatchers at 2:23 a.m. to report a prowler, according to a 911 recording obtained by The Clarion-Ledger. When the officers arrived eight minutes later, nobody answered the door, and they left.

"They should have made contact with the complainant," Horton said last week. "They should have made contact with her to make sure of her of her welfare. But they did not do that."

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Horton said the officers will get a "behavior modification" so they never make that mistake again.

"We have a practice and policy in place," he said, "and in this occasion I think they did not follow that."

On Monday, Jackson police arrested Alonzo Stewart, 29, in the death of Harrion after catching him trying to break into another home. They found the weapon where he told them he had discarded it — in a ditch between Overbrook Drive and Beacon Place.

Horton, a 30-year veteran of the police department, served as police chief for about a year after he was appointed by former Mayor Chokwe Lumumba and kept on by Lumumba's replacement, Mayor Tony Yarber.

Monday's news release on Horton's retirement did not mention the Harrion case or give any reason for the retirement.

The Harrion family also held a press conference on Monday. They said initially that they didn't know if Horton's sudden retirement had anything to do with their mother's death, but when asked what her reaction to hearing Horton's announcement was, Angela Harrion said, "That it was my mother. It was my mother and she was making us aware, making the city of Jackson aware that it was someone so close."

However, Yarber sent out a statement regarding Harrion's murder on Thursday.

The statement read: "A thorough investigation is being conducted, and once completed, all those whose actions contributed to Ms. Harrion's death will be held accountable. Additionally, we will continue to investigate our Police Department's response to the 911 calls made by Ms. Harrion to determine if police personnel followed standard operating procedures. Anyone found at fault will be disciplined in accordance with our personnel policies."

Yarber's news release on Horton's retirement read: "Chief Horton's career of public service should be commended. We're grateful for his assistance during our administration's transition and wish him the best. We could not have transitioned so smoothly without him."